Note to Katherine, get Castela some martial arts classes and train her to use melee weapons… which will actually be the safer things for her to reach for in an emergency than “hand laser”. Although you could also argue that a Taser would be the safest thing for Castela to have and “default to” when spooked. Since a Taser removes both Castela’s hand laser and most of her physical strength.

A bokken or other training weapon would be ideal here. The worst that would happen is she breaks the bokken, some furniture, and maybe someone’s arm or leg. Instead of leveling the block.

Martial arts training usually includes training to a “detached observer” state of alert as well. Shifting into Panic Mode right off the bat will not help anybody.
A good instructor (presumably also a Para) might also encourage her to explore greater control of her ability. Perhaps that portable lightning bolt can be pared down to Taser-like, or even joy-buzzer like power with a corresponding increase in precision and accuracy.

Ever since I noticed that Castela switches between human form and “eye stalk” form, I’ve been trying to correlate when she does which. Eye stalks at home and on the island. Human *usually* in public: school, coffee house, though sometimes she loses it: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/field-hockey/

I see the third panel, and my memory flashes back to Babylon 5, and a nervous Michael Garabaldi spinning around and arming his PPG (Phased Plasma Gun). That characteristic little rising-whistling-hiss sound…

Castela knows how hard it would be to break into the house, but did the engineers design it to stay together when someone inadvertently tries to break *out* from the inside? Her power blast isn’t going to be coming from the outside, after all…
😉

That’s the thing with irrational fears: no matter how strong one is, anyone can scare themselves if they allow their imagination to get the better of them, and how easy it is to dismiss so many things if there is someone else in the house with you: just trick your mind into believing it was them making the sounds

The tag location for them both in their undies was the Gilchrist Home, was just thinking maybe Kath had a secret room that her girls didn’t know about, thus Stela believing both her mother and sister were away when it was just the sister

Was simply confused and asked a question, wasn’t meant to be a critique

Sorry, I realize now that what I wrote sounds super curt. Not intended to be so. Also sorry for any confusion. In my mind, they were fooling around at Kath’s for a while then went to Bryn’s house. I can be an airhead, tho”.